I loved "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" and that is saying a lot considering that I don't like musicals. John Cameron Mitchell's directorial debut, based on the one man Off-Broadway hit show, won this year's Sundance Audience Award and Directing Prize, and for a change, all the accolades are deserved. The film is receiving a lot of media coverage focusing on rock opera, Hedwig's extraordinary array of blond wigs, and the fact that this is a transsexual movie, but what sells it in the end is the wonderful title character.

Hedwig is introduced performing in a small club in the Midwest. Well, not a club, but a restaurant, an all you-can-eat buffet, and a tall, blond rocking transsexual could not be more out of place. The incongruity sucks you right in. Rather than performing, Hedwig talks to her disbelieving audience. She explains her circumstances of her present situation. Through a series of performances and flashbacks, Hedwig's story is slowly revealed.

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Hedwig begins life as Hansel, the son of an American soldier and a Germany woman in East Berlin before the fall of the Wall. He grows up loving music, especially American radio. Because he and his mother share a home the size of a closet, he is forced to listen to the music in the oven. Yes, the oven, and it's a fantastic visual moment, from the silly redhead kid wailing along with David Bowie to the close-up of grown-up Hedwig, still singing in the oven.

Freedom comes in the unlikely form of an American soldier who is willing to marry Hedwig and take him to American freedom if, and only if, he gets an sex change operation. Hansel hesitates. It turns out that his transformation into blond, uber feminine Hedwig was not the culmination of Hansel's true desire, but a half-hearted act done at the soldier's urging -- which is even moreheartbreaking when the wall comes down soon after Hedwig reaches the promised land, Kansas.

When her husband leaves him, Hedwig finds his own pretty boy, Tommy Gnosis (Michael Pitt). Tommy steals the songs they wrote together and becomes a huge pop star. Hedwig's mission takes shape in the form of a cross country restaurant tour across America (a tour that closely borders on stalking) to gain recognition and compensation.

John Cameron Mitchell is a compelling performer. The songs, written by Stephen Trask, are absolutely necessary to the story. Hedwig's signature song, "The Angry Inch," does everything in terms of character development, and Cameron's incendiary delivery manages to incite a barroom brawl. The music sounds great.

The film is a visual stunner. Numerous scenes stand out: Hedwig in the oven, a beautiful seduction sequence featuring a rainbow colored parade of succulent gummy bears. Hedwig's outfits are a pleasure to behold, and the animation sequences by artist Emily Hubley are positively gorgeous.

Translating a play to a musical is a daunting task. Often, you can sense drama overload and a lack of scenery, but this is not the case with Hedwig. The supporting characters lend to the overall story, especially Miriam Shor as Hedwig's unhappy husband. Though the end becomes laden with songs (even when they are terrific, too many songs are too many songs), "Hedwig and The Angry Inch" remains a triumph. Hedwig's search for his whole self is a compelling journey. Writers are taught to strive for epiphany in their work, and in John Mitchell Cameron's debut film, he achieves no less than that.